Duke
Duke's DeWayne Carter happy to focus on other during Pro Day
Duke defensive lineman DeWayne Carter, who participated at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, says he was happy to be a cheerleader for his teammates.
Uh DC, let's start with uh you know, how do you balance the difference of what you have to do here in this pro day compared to all the drills that you had to do and everything you had to go through in the combine, how do you balance what, what, what do you feel like you need to do and what you don't need to do in a pro day? Yeah. So good question. I think for me, it was more, it's like a three step approach, right to this draft process starting mobile um at the senior Bowl and Step two is the draft right in, in India and step three is his pro day and that was kind of like slash chapter of this book. Um for me in the predraft program, obviously, you know, maybe some interviews and stuff like that down the road. But as far as the workout process, this was it and I kind of strategical place that obviously SB just football. But um and for me, my goal is out there, go out there and do everything. So I plan on doing all the tests and everything kinda not goes out the way. So when I get out here, it's kind of, you know, one more ride with the guys. Um come out here test. Well, um do position is really like be more of a cheerleader per se and then obviously handle my business on the back end, which I believe I did. So that's what was kind of my approach going into it. No, go ahead. When I ask Graham, this uh you actually participated obviously in the combine. What did you learn in Indie that you brought with you here to Durham for your pro day today? Yeah. So really, it's a lot and it's really a business venture, right? So just to put in perspective, I got to Indianapolis um that Sunday, I didn't work out to that Thursday, right? So that's a lot of time. So it's the MRI S the X rays, the interviews, the meetings, the kind of walk on my excels all the time. It's like I talked about three step process a little bit, but it's more so it's like you're always on edge in terms of like somebody's always watching you and everybody always says that, you know, I mean, your parents, so you know how it goes. Like your kids, you always tell your kids, somebody's always watching you and that's what you would have felt like. And they're always been evaluated constantly and even going into business meetings, they check everything, they track everything they were asking me about some stuff in high school. Like, it's just, it's just crazy. I have teachers hitting me up, tell me what school or what teachers or coaches came into the school or whatever. It's just crazy. It's a lot of business. Throw you off. No, honestly, a lot of teams are more lax than you would think. It's funny you get a wide spectrum. Uh, sometimes you go in there and it's the hardball route where it's like, oh, sit right here, like my name is whatever, like nice to meet you. And then I had one where I walked in, they threw a mini hoop or basketball at me and told me to shoot three shots. So like it's just, you know, you get a wide range Dwayne, you've put so much into the school. What does this day mean for Duke Football? And what can you say about the future of the program? Yeah, that's a good question. I think it's really representative of like everything we've been through these past five years. I say we like because this is my class, right? We came in June 2019, uh you know, a million years ago, my old guy now, but with our minds set to be kind of the people who change the legacy of Duke Football. And I remember those conversations that we had way back when as 18 year olds and, and I look all 32 represented here, multiple personnels, G MS, assistant G MS coaches just guys here to watch us work, right? Really show like we do have talent here, secure crop. It's not just the basketball school trope like and we produce and I think that's continued to show these past two falls and can't wait to see what they do in the fall. You mentioned, it's like a three step process, right? What, what do you think you've learned between senior bowl combine pro day? Yeah, I mean, you just talk about the business at the end of the day. Football is football. Um I don't care. I says like, obviously it gets a little faster guys might be a little bit bigger or stronger or whatever it is. But football is football. At the end of the day, the game of football is football, but throughout this process, you gotta become a track runner, you gotta become a power lifter, you got to become a drill master, like it's just all these excess things, right? So when we get to go out here and do things like, you know, football drills, hitting b is what I did my whole life. That's what I grew up doing. But football is football and that's what all the advice I've gotten to talk to from, you know, experienced vets and even at the combine like John Randall there, like, are you kidding me? Like John Randall's at the combine like, and he's there, you know, feeding that support us and kind of preaching that same message, football, football at the end of the day. And that's what you're going to do and you're meant to be here, right? Wherever the stage was, you're meant to be here. And that was a common message. So it was pretty cool. You mentioned that you wanted to make sure you were a cheerleader today. Why is that? Why is it so important for you to make sure you were here with those 12 other folks? Yeah. So that's a good question. I think it's because like that's just who we are. And I say we, that is Duke Football, right? That's my team. That's my class. Those are my best friends and that's gonna remain the same throughout the life. Now we're moving to the next stage of life, guys moving on, you know, the next level or whatever it may be. It's just that same chilling mentality, the friendship, the bond that we share doesn't change and to see guys who worked so hard these past 2, 2.5 months to get the way they want to go and, you know, produce what they want to produce out here on the field. I think that's the coolest thing for me, especially because when I was in Indy, it was the same thing. Like all my messages were well outside of, you know, my girlfriend and all that outside of it. It was my teammates first. People calling me texting me the night before checking in. Make sure my mental is ok. Like make sure I'm good, make sure I'm ready to go and then, you know, tell you they're proud of me. It means a lot. You mentioned being a truck star as part of this process. How much David in his workout. Yeah, so Coach Fly, he's very modest and very humble except when he's coaching us, right, in the sense of just being honest all the time, he never say you had any accolades and everything else. But going through the predraft process and the training process, almost every single thing I did was replicable to what we do right here on this field outside in the indoor or whatever it may be. That's what we do and we train, we train, we run, we lived heavy, we run and all the same fundamentals, everything we built were kind of things that I literally did day in and day out for the past 2.5 months. So it's kind of funny. I always, we run in front at least once a week talking about, you know, strategy, stuff like that, about how things are going. And, you know, he's always, he's very hands on. He's a busy man, but he's always on that phone. And a lot of times he's, you know, been relationships taking on people, that's just who he is. He was a great guy, talked about that on edge kind of environment that you experienced in the combine for a lot of these guys out here today. It was their first experience and that I saw you telling some guys relax, take a breath. Was that from that experience that you drew from the combine kind of being used to that? Yeah, 100%. I mean, like I said, football, football at the end of the day and that's what we're essentially doing once you get to the drills, like they were in their forties, they run their shadows out drills, whatever it was. But at the end of the day, football is football like we do this, I knew what type of players they are. I know they're capable of, you know, competing in every single drill that was put on out here today. So today, just relax, take a breath like, you know, it's nothing more than just fans being in the stage or stadium. Excuse me, that's how I kind of view it because I mean, they're gonna tell you nothing good or bad. So it's just about going out there and executing what you do. You got it. Go ahead, go ahead. You got about, you got about uh four more weeks or whatever before the draft gets here. Obviously, you probably have more individual workouts, interviews and things like that to do. But what's gonna be kinda like on your calendar to keep your mind at ease? You know what I mean? And stay relaxed through the, through the final stretch of this process. What are some things that you think you'll be doing? Yeah. So I kind of touched on this a little bit at the beginning of the year actually, way back in the fall and my goal this year was to be where my feet are. All right. So stay focused on the moment, hand, stay present at the moment because I knew how fast this year was gonna go. I knew what all was to come and I knew, you know, how you can get lost in the moment, miss out on these key moments. And I'm like, you know, to be here for a couple more weeks, get to hang out with the guys, be around the lifts, uh work out with coach feel again by choice this time. I don't know why I made that choice. So I'll be around but keeping that same mentality, you know, taking it day by day step by step because uh talking to everybody I talked to said once that call happens or however it happens, it just rolls until about this time next year. So, you know, I'm excited, but that's definitely my, the same thing you where my feet are, when, when the call comes, what's gonna be your preparation for that? Yeah, so I'll be home in Ohio. Yeah, I'm going back to Columbus, uh hanging out the uh parents, uh sister and my girlfriend is sitting there and kind of waiting out and then you know, probably throw a little get together, um, Saturday after the draft. So I say done, but it's kind of been with my people, um, who support me all the way through since I came up. They don't miss any games and that's taken since throughout school. Right. So it's kind of like a big moment for me to really repay them in the sense of they don't ask for anything. But, you know, it's the best I can do at this point. What will it mean to you if your name is one of the really the few that's called one of the draft nights? Yeah. So it's funny, you know, you think about it, you think about how you're gonna react, you try to plan, I'm gonna do this. I I might cry here. So the camera here, you know, like there's silly things like that, but it's funny you really don't know a thing in a moment and, you know, I'm obviously gonna be very excited how I react. I don't know, like it may come out in tears and may come on just like I might jump up and down and do a flip. I don't know, but it'll be definitely very exciting. What's the go to Food at the Carter Family Draft night? That's to be determined. You know, I'm hoping I get one of these sponsorships, you know, you see all these guys talking about. Oh, thanks to so and so for sponsoring my draft party. So, you know, maybe raising can throw something in there. Some wings stop. I don't know, I've seen pizza, I've seen, I've seen all of it so I'm hoping it's free, whatever it is. Nothing wrong with that. Anything else for Dwayne? Is it like, maybe certain teams you're hearing? Well, you think might have more interest than you. It's so funny, like this process is so weird, like, early on you talk to a couple of teams and then you don't hear from them for a while, then you are here. What I'm, how many weeks in now? I haven't talked to a certain team. They called me the other day, asked me to come out like it's just different things like that. So, I mean, I've heard from literally all 32 and that's one thing you really can't plan and that's the advice I got from, you know, my counsel and everything else so far is just, you know, you can't really, like, set your mind on one place because really you never know really one pick could change the whole draft and we all know how many quarterbacks there are this year too and they take precedence. So we'll see.